Southwestern states and Great Plains regions are the regions hardest hit by COVID-19 cases this week, despite a decline in the number of cases nationally.
COVID data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the week ending Oct. 21 shows that the U. S. The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) overall has a test positivity rate of 8. 7%, and that of all tests conducted, 8. 7% were positive. A decrease of 0. 7% from last week, when the country as a whole had a control positivity rate of 9. 5%.
States with case rates include Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Utah and Colorado at 14 percent, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri at 11. 1 percent, and California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii at 11 percent, according to the CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION.
Region nine (California, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada), Region 8 (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Utah), and Region 7 (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) have more consistent case rates than the rest of the country, with an average test positivity rate of 10 to 14. 9 percent. displays a new map from the CDC. Region Nine, averaging 11 percent, is up 0. 6 percent from last week, while Region 8, at 14 percent, is down 0. 4 percent. Region 7, at 11. 1 percent, is up 1. 2 percent.
Other states have positivity rates between five and 9. 9 percent.
“It’s vital that other people know when their threat of exposure to the virus expands so they can monitor symptoms and replace their threat of exposure and spread of the virus if they become infected,” Catherine Bennett, a professor at Alfred Deakin University, Australia’s Institute of Epidemiology and Health, told Newsweek.
There were 16,186 COVID-related hospital admissions over the past week, down 0. 2% from last week. That’s an average of about 4. 88 admissions compared to another 100,000 people nationwide. Montana alone has more than 10 new COVID-related hospitalizations based on 100,000 residents, with a total of 107 hospitalizations last week.
However, COVID deaths have increased over the past week, with 2. 7% of deaths due to the virus. In the last week, the figure was 2. 4 percent.
The decline in positive tests indicates that infections are stabilizing; However, as the winter months approach, cases may recede as more infections weaken the public’s immune system.
This comes just a few months after a new batch of COVID vaccines was released to the public. However, few people came out and won those booster doses: Only 7% of adults and 2% of young people won the new vaccines, according to CDC data. The booster rate is low, even among the most at-risk groups, with only about 20 percent of people 75 and older vaccinated and 15 percent of seniors 65 to 74.
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Jess Thomson is a science journalist for Newsweek founded in London, UK. It focuses on informing about science, technology, and physical care. He has covered animal behavior extensively, area news, and the effects of climate change. Jess joined Newsweek in May 2022, and in the past worked at Springer Nature. He graduated from the University of Oxford. Languages: English.
You can contact Jess by emailing j. thomson@newsweek. com.